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Prisoners in 2014

E. Ann Carson, Ph.D., Bureau of Justice Statistics

September 17, 2015 NCJ 248955

Presents final counts of prisoners under the jurisdiction of state and federal correctional authorities on December 31, 2014, collected by the National Prisoner Statistics program. This report includes the number of prison admissions, releases, noncitizen inmates, and inmates age 17 or younger in the custody of state or federal prisons. It presents prison capacity for each state and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), examines the use of private prisons by state and the BOP from 1999 to 2014, and describes the offense and demographic characteristics of yearend federal and state prison populations. The report also includes yearend counts for territorial and military correctional populations.

Highlights:

The number of prisoners held by state and federal correctional authorities on December 31, 2014 (1,561,500) decreased by 15,400 (down 1%) from yearend 2013.

The federal prison population decreased by 5,300 inmates (down 2.5%) from 2013 to 2014, the second consecutive year of decline.

On December 31, 2014, state and federal correctional authorities held 1,508,600 individuals sentenced to more than 1 year in prison, 11,800 fewer inmates than at yearend 2013.

The number of women in prison who were sentenced to more than 1 year increased by 1,900 offenders (up 2%) in 2014 from 104,300 in 2013 to 106,200 in 2014.

The decline in the BOP population in 2014 was explained by 5% fewer admissions (down 2,800) than in 2013.